LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As reaction poured in following Senator Mitch McConnell’s announcement not to seek re-election, two University of Louisville professors are answering the question: what’s next for Kentucky?

What You Need To Know

  • After completing seven terms Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced he will not seek another term

  • Political science professors at UofL offered their insight on what's next for Kentucky

  • Professor Ricky Jones said McConnell created a pathway to power and brought with him influence

  • McConnell said he intends to serve the rest of his term ending in Jan. 2027

“I think a lot of people will talk about how Senator McConnell will be missed. He’ll be missed by some people and there are other people that will be very, very glad to see him go,” said Ricky Jones, a political science professor at UofL in the Pan-African Studies Department.

After completing seven terms, McConnell announced on Thursday, Feb. 20, he would not seek another term.

“Unsurprising, you know, because age, health, mental acuity, which clearly is declining. Everybody pretty much knew that this was going to be the last go around for Senator McConnell,” Jones said.

Jones said McConnell created a pathway to power and brought with him influence.

“Any Democrat running for senator in this state is basically spitting in the wind. You know that’s not going to be a viable candidacy. The question is, ‘what type of Republican will the state choose?’’ Jones said.

Former Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced his bid to run for McConnell’s seat minutes after McConnell’s announcement along with State Representative Pam Stevenson, D-Louisville and entrepreneur Nate Morris.

“I think the Republican party is catching up with where Kentucky already was. I think Kentucky was already hyperconservative. I think Kentucky already had hyper anti-equality diversity sensibilities. And now the rest of the party has caught up with it and it’s given the Republican party here a license to push its sensibilities even stronger,” Jones said.

Professor Dewey Clayton with UofL said when McConnell took the seat in 1984, Kentucky leaned more left.

“Kentucky Democrats largely controlled at the state level and at the national level. And McConnell has moved. McConnell saw where the national Republican party was going, and he moved the state right along with it,” Clayton said. “He’s a shrewd tactician. He’s been in office now for four decades. He’s been one of the most powerful members, and political office in this country for decades. And so regardless of what someone may think, but the Republicans are setting where they are now largely because of the skill, political skills of Senator McConnell.”

McConnell said he intends to serve the rest of his term ending in Jan. 2027.

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